What is personality? What shapes personality?

What is personality? What shapes personality?

Personality The unique and relatively stable ways in which people think, feel, and behave Character Value judgments of a person s moral and ethical behavior Trait A consistent, enduring way of thinking, feeling or behaving (irritability, openness, etc.) Character and traits are components of personality Big Picture

Big Picture Personality Development Psychoanalytic Behaviorist Social-Cognitive Humanistic Biological Theories Personality Assessment Trait Theories

Psychoanalytic Theories Focus on the unconscious mind & and it s influence on the development of personality from childhood through adulthood

Freud s Big Picture There are layers to the conscious mind *Conscious, Preconscious, Unconscious** The unconscious aspects influence the conscious ones Divisions of Personality The interaction of these 3 aspects determined personality Conflicts are expressed with defense mechanisms (p. 461) Id Completely unconscious, pleasureseeking, amoral, exists at birth, contains biological drives Ego Mostly conscious, rational, logical, must satisfy the needs of the id in ways that will not lead to negative consequences Superego part of the personality that acts as a moral center Contains the conscience (p. 521)

Behaviorist Theories Personality is developed based on a set of learned responses (habits) Group Discussion Explain how a behaviorist would explain a person with a shy personality

Big Picture Emphasize the importance of other people s influence (the environment), but also incorporate a person s on cognitions (expectancies, cog. learning)

Rotter s Expectency Theory Big Picture Personality develops from behaving then forming an expectancy about future behaviors Locus of Control Degree to which a person believes that good and bad outcomes are contingent (depends) on his/her actions Internal Control: Refers to the perception of positive and negative events as being a consequence of one s own actions and thereby under personal control *Positive outcomes are attributed to one s skill External Control: Refers to positive and negative events as being unrelated to one s own behaviors and therefore beyond personal control * Positive outcomes are attributed to luck, chance, or other forces or people

Humanistic Focuses on the role of each person s life decisions and what makes people uniquely human, such as emotions, appreciation of beauty

Carl Rogers & Self-Concept Self-Actualization Human always strive to fulfill their potential (become the best they can) Self-Concept People s own beliefs and thoughts about who they are In the process of self-actualization, people construct a self-concept Real-Self One s perception of actual characteristics, traits, and abilities Ideal-Self Perception of who one should be or would like to be

Biological Theories Examines how personality is shaped by genetics Video: Epigenetics of Identical Twins Video (DVD): Twins Separated at birth p. 539 summary

Trait Theories Focuses on the characteristics of personality themselves, rather than how personality develops

Overview Allport s Trait Theory Created a list of 200 words of possible traits to assess a person s personality An individual was composed of a constellation of traits 1. Cardinal trait - This is the trait that dominates and shapes a person's behavior. 2. Central trait - This is a general characteristic found in some degree in every person. Basic building blocks that shape most of our behavior Ex: honesty 3. Secondary trait - These are characteristics seen only in certain circumstances (such as particular likes or dislikes that a very close friend may know)

The Big Five: Ocean Openness: Willingness to try new things and be open to new experiences Conscientiousness: The care a person gives to organization and thoughtfulness of others Extraversion: The need to be with other people Agreeableness: The emotional style of a person easygoing, friendly, grumpy, irritable Neuroticism: Degree of emotional stability or instability Overview

Methods Projective Tests Ambiguous stimuli is presented, an individual responds with whatever comes to mind (Rorshach test) Psychoanalysts Purpose: to uncover unconscious conflicts, desires and urges that shape personality Problems: reliability and validity interpretation of responses is highly subjective Rorschach Inkblot projective test that uses 10 inkblots as the ambiguous stimuli TAT (Thematic Apperception Test) Projective test that uses 20 pictures of people in ambiguous situations as the visual stimuli

Methods MMPI Tests for abnormal behavior patterns in personality 567 statements Lie detection: I am always happy Personality Inventories People provide simple responses ( yes, no, etc. ) to a series of unambiguous questions Trait theorists Jung Typology Purpose: To construct a personality based on the combination of traits Problems: Social desirability effect

Carl Jung s Typology Trait Theory Carl Jung created a system of classifying people s temperaments based on a combination of six qualities Introvert/Extrovert 1. Sensation: Sum of external facts provided by the senses 2. Thinking: Refines and makes sense of the raw sensations 3. Feeling: Gives value to things 4. Intuition: Mystical process by which we negotiate the unknown

Jung s Typology Extroverts Introverts Rational Thinking Thinking Feeling Feeling Irrational Sensation Sensation Intuition Intuition

Trait Theory Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Assesses a person s temperament based on four personality dimensions People are assigned a four letter personality type (SFEJ, etc.) 16 personality types 1. Sensing/Intuition (S/N) Sensing: Prefer to rely on what they see, hear, touch, etc. Intuition: Prefer to rely on hunches intuitive knowledge 2. Thinking/Feeling (T/F) Thinking: Prefer to use logic, analysis, and experiences that can be validated Feeling: Make decisions based on personal values and emotional reactions 3. Introversion/Extroversion (I/E) Introvert: Regularly require alone time to recharge Extrovert: Outgoing

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) 4. Judging/Perceiving (J/P) Judging: Action-oriented, decisive, get-the-task-done Perceiving: Curious, put off making a final decision to consider all possibilities

Assignment http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgiwin/jtypes2.asp Take the test, and follow the links to analyze your results. Reaction Paper 1.5 pages (2 pages max), Doublespaced 1. State your predicted 4-letter combo and explanation 2. State your 4-letter combo from the test Assess Your Personality 3. Provide a brief summary of your personality type 4. Write a reaction to the test. * Was the test accurate in your opinion? * Was your predicted 4 letters different from the test results? * If so, explain why you think it was different. * What did it not include/get wrong?